Rowena Hufflepuff
by Alison Tears
Summary: Rowena might be an unfortunate name for a quiet girl from Hufflepuff. Its one of the reasons Rowena Montage has always kept her head down, never expecting the attention of a strange and icy girl, by name of Amanda from Slytherin. When Rowena, her girlfriend Nancy and Amanda all sign up for Dumbledore's army, a test of courage begins, and true strengths are revealed


**disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Thank you for taking the time to read my story x**

A girl sat on the steps by the great hall at Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry, leant against the stone column of the banister. Her knees were close enough to her chest to conceal a novel from view that rested between them, the weight of which pulled down on her robes so you could see her scuffed red sneakers, toes together heels apart. Threads of sunlight fell across her face and arms and caught the copper glint of he eye which darted back and forth as she read the words on the page.

Students hurried past in groups noiselessly until a single word brought her out of the novel. "hello"

the voice was clear and scathing, and the girl froze. Glancing up she saw a slytherin standing over her, one she recognised from her year. Her gaze was dark brown like her own, the soft angles of her face gave her a tall, well sculptured portrait. "Amanda" she said curtly "and you are?"

"Rowena" the girl replied, hearing the book calling her she found it difficult to not look away. Amanda raised her eyebrows and smiled, and Rowena blushed profoundly. Shame and embarrassment stirred in her chest, she knew them well and recognised their cold touch and hurriedly got up to leave, dropping the book.

"Oh you were reading? I am sorry, I hadn't noticed" Amanda walked down a couple of steps, her posture stiff and slow. Rowena glanced back at her, recognising the 'British' upper class Londoners accent "How old are you? 15? 16?" she picked up Rowena's book for her and flipped it over, reading the title. "The Lord Of The Rings: Return of the king by J.R.R. Tolkien. I don't believe I've read this one." Rowena glanced over Amanda's dark, sleek bob and clean pressed robes and tie.

"um..." she mumbled "it's uh...written by a muggle, actually. Its very good, if bizarre, that one the last in the trilogy"

"I see, well, let me borrow them if they're any good" Amanda handed back the volume and flashed a brief smile before walking away towards the great hall. It was just then that Rowena's friends called after her from the staircase above.

That night in the common room Rowena sat hunched into a ball by the fire. Tomas and Amy had told her not to bother with Amanda, whatever she wanted, it wouldn't be a piece of muggle literature and a friendly chat. "She's a slytherin" they had pressed "Rowena, she's bad news"

Their words rolled around in her head, taking up too much space. The fire sent bright sparks up the chimney, the crackling and hiss of green wood the only sound other than her own tired breathes. Finally the portrait clicked open and Rowena stirred. She glanced around to watch Nancy cross the room towards her, her stride slow and her hands crossed over her chest. Rowena smiled and waited for Nancy to crouch down next to her before asking "where have you been?"

"Umbridge's office" Nancy stared in the flames, the light shimmering in the whites of her eyes. They seemed a muddy pale, and glistened too brightly. She'd been worn down to the core. Her mouth was a tight thin line where there should have been soft lips and a bright, warm laugh. Rowena closed her hand around Nancy's, and felt her stomach clench and the need to scream well up inside her. "The same?" she whispered.

"Yeah. I'm not sure how much more I can take of that woman" there was an uncomfortable pause, before Nancy squeezed Rowena's hand back. It was warm, and settled the pain in her chest. "Hey, do you remember the other day in the great hall at breakfast..."

"No, not this again!" Rowena laughed

"No, listen, you remember don't you? How you were saying the three unforgivable curses, well, not really _saying_ them, describing them and trying to memorise them and then Professor McGonagall stopped to listen and you were so flustered you said oregano instead of crucio" Nancy was laughing then, and they both sat gasping for a moment, giggling with every choked breath. The fire burned on silently, and for the first time that evening Rowena began to feel its warmth. "Oregano...Wow, I could really go for some Italian pasta right now"

"Nancy?"

"hm?"

"I love you"

Nancy pulled Rowena's head towards her and softly kissed her temple, and let Rowena rest her head on her shoulder. They stayed like that for a few minutes, before Rowena remembered what she had wanted to talk about. "I met a slytherin girl today"

"hm?" Nancy said again, half asleep

"She just started talking to me. Her name's Amanda"

"Good, you don't have enough friends"

"Your okay with it?"

"Of course I am" Nancy wouldn't say any more on the subject, and presently got up to go to bed. "Will you come to the hogshead with me tomorrow?" tomorrow was one of the years regular trips to Hogsmeade, and Rowena crossed her feet nervously. She'd heard nasty rumours about what went on in the Hogshead.

"why?"

"That Granger girl's been passing around a message. Apparently Harry Potter is going to start teaching defence against the dark arts lessons, in secret. Anyone who's interested in going should meet at the hogshead tomorrow."

"are you interested?"

"A little" she grinned down at Rowena "Anyway it'll be fun, don't you think?" Rowena smiled, and watched Nancy slowly climb the stairs to bed before extinguishing the fire with a flick of her wand.


End file.
